Trigger control device



March '7, 1950 c. J. GROSS TRIGGER CONTROL DEVICE 2 SheebSSheet 1 Filed Sept. 22,' 1947 Inventor Charles J Gross w B 2 SheetsSheet 2 Filed Sept. 22, 1947 a; e rm a f6 8 vww n! I 1W 7 GB 1 T: wflun J n I j n u m n H m "n I ill fl: T 4. a :m G\ 1 6 6 9 1 2 Patented Mar. 7, 1950 UNI TED I STATES EPATENT EOJFJFI CE TRIGGERI'CONTROL'DEVICE Charles ,JwGross, :"Melrose, Mass assignor ,to

=United Shoe Machinery- Corporation, Flemington, N. 3., a corporation of New Jersey Application September 22,1947, Serial N0.'-775',417

JZ'CIaims.

l v Thisinvention relates :..to avtrigger control :de- .vice: adapted particularly foriuse with aiplura'lity :It is .anobject of theinventionxselectively to .control the firing of a 1 plurality .oigunsr so that ation'of any additionalzor'special controlpart.

.In accordance with afeature of the invention,

therefore, connectionsare;provided between the trigger operating means iforeach gun and an operator-controlled firing means and are arrangedto beselectivelyrendered operative in response to the movement of the firing means.

For a complete understanding of the details of the invention, reference may be'had to the'following detailed description and'to' the drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is an angularfront view of agun mount provided with a trigger control device foriselectively firinga plurality of guns;

Fig. 2 is a side viewof a portion of the control device; and

.Fig. 3 is an angular View of a portion of-the control device.

The structure,.i. e., the general organization of the gun mount illustrated in Fig. 1, .is similar to theorganization of the .mount described in my Patent No. 2,486,526, granted November '1, 1949 to which patent reference may be had for. a full description of said details. The presentmount,

however, is designed to. supportfour guns instead the mechanism illustrated inFigs. lito 3 of the drawings annexed hereto will, whenever they correspond to like parts described in my'afore- ,mentioned patent, be designated bythesame reference numerals previously used.

The pedal 226 is pivoted to a foot rest'230 which In order to adjust the is secured to a post .232. foot rest 230 heightwise to suit the convenience of the operator of the turret, the post 232 is adjustable in a split sleeve 23 i integral with a bracket 236 secured to the mount. The post 232 and the foot rest 230 are held in'adjusted 'posi- The pedal'226, which normally is new initial or inoperative position by a spring 242 secured to the pedal and to the foot rest 230, has a rearward extension which '.is.connected'by a :1ink"24 B to a two-armed love 1 1250 pivoted ba movement being a lost, motion. upon taking up of the lost motion, .thenserves plunger .258 :serves to connect the lever 5 250 to the lower end of .alink '26l3ythe plunger engagx-ingin one .ofaseries of holes-inithe linlglthe holes corresponding in number to thenumber of .bores'in thepost 232. 'Whenever'the, foot rest 23% is adjusted heightwise, the link 260 must-be adjusted correspondingly in order athatthe -lerverage between the foot restand thelink --Wi11 not be disturbed.

' A rockeritlpivoted tothe mount, and a link 258 serve to connect the link 25B with a horizontal rod 210 which extends into a trigger lock housing 212 secured-to the mount. Therod.-.21 -B is joined to aslideVZ'EB-mQunted'toreciprocate in the housing .212. ,Pivotally mounted on the slide -218 is'a spring-pressed pawl 282-whichnorm-ally engages a pawl (notshown) pivoted on a slide 5290 also mounted for reciprocatingmovement in the trigger lock housing 212.

Joined to theslide 290 is arod-ZQB-which'ex- .tends beyond the triggerloch housing 212. L'Ih'e outer end of-therodzfls is providedwith screw threads and is secured in a controlslidelfl .(Fig.

.2) by locknuts l2, l4. ,Theslidelfl comprises a part ofthe means for successively firing the guns upon operation of the .pedalZZB and is mounted to move horizontally on a shaft I6 extending rearward from the trigger locklhousing -212. There are pivoted to the, slide In two outer links'l8 20 (Fig. 3) which serve to transmit the motion of the pedal 226 and-the slide'l B' toa selected number ofv guns, asillustratedto the-inner guns, tofire them, as will be described more'j'in detail below. The'links [8,20 are also pivotally joined to. the bifurcated ends of lugs 22, 24' integral with sleeves 26528 rotatably mounted on a shaft 30 which oscillates in standards formed on the mount.

Pivotally joined to the slide lllbetween the links I8, 29' is a connection 32 into which "is threaded the reduced end of a plunger '34, a check nut 36 preventing relative movementof the-freduced plunger end and the connection 32. The plunger V3 is so mounted for movementin a plunger housing 38as'to permit a movement-of the plunger relative'to the housing this. relative .The plunger,

to transmitthe movement of the slide'lfl toianother series ofguns, as illustrated to'the outer .guns, through the housing 38, inorderlto'fire'sa'id guns. A cap 401's threadedv ontothe endofithe housing 38 tofform a closure therefor andis' held locked in position by a nut42. A lug 44 .onlthe cap MI is pivotally connected to thebifurcated end of a lever 46 which isiclamped to the shaft "3llobetween thesleeves 26,28. Movement of theslidelfl is transmitted'to the guns of the mount through'the above described connections in the following manner. Sincethe relative to the housing by a nut 68.

, my previous patent.

. shown) following manner. pedal 226 and, through the lever 250, the link sleeves 26, '28 serve to transmit actuating movements to the triggers of the guns controlled by them through identical connections, only one set of connections is illustrated in Fig. 1, it being understood that identical connections lead to the other gun controlled thereby. The sleeve 26 has integral therewith a rearward extension 48 to which is joined one end of a spring 50, the other end of which is secured to the mount, the spring serving to hold the sleeve 26 in its initial position. Pivotally joined to the extension 48 is a vertical rod 52 which, through a yoke 54, is connected to a rod 56 (Fig. 2) arranged to move vertically in a cylindrical housing 58. Surrounding the rod 56 within the housing 53 is a spring 60 one end of Which engages a head 62 on the rod 56 and the other end of which engages {a cap 64 attached to the lower end of the housing 58. Threaded into the upper end of the housing 58 is a rod 66 which is held against movement The rod 66,

through a train of connections, is joined to a trigger bell crank 360 which acts on the trigger of the gun and thus serves to operate the firing mechanism of the gun. The bell crank 36D and its train of operating parts comprise the trigger operating means for the gun.

The shaft 30 is oscillated by the slide l6, when the lost motion between the plunger 34 and the housing 38 has been taken up, to operate the firing mechanism of the outer guns through trains of parts only one of which is illustrated in Fig. 1. Secured to the outer end of the'shaft 30 is a lever 10 to which is connected one end of a spring 12, the other end of which is attached to the mount, the spring 12 serving to hold the shaft 30 in its initial position. The lever 16,

through a series of connecting parts, operates the firing mechanism of its gun in a manner fully disclosed in my aforementioned patent.

It may be desirable, at times, to disconnect the :firing pedal from the trigger operating mechanism, for example, to insure against accidental firing of the guns before the gunner is ready to commence firing, in a manner fully described in For this purpose, there is provided a plunger 44!) (Fig. 1) arranged to engage in one of two openings, corresponding to fire and safe positions, in a plate (not The plunger is joined to a bell crank lever 448 which, through a pull rod 452 and a 'rocker lever 454, is connected to a slide 460 vertically movable in the trigger lock housing 212 and arranged, when the plunger is moved to safe position, to swing the pawl 282 out of engagement with the other pawl (not shown), thus breaking the connection between the firing pedal 'and the trigger mechanism. When the plunger 448 is in fire position, the aforementioned pawls are in engagement and depression of the pedal 226 will serve to fire the guns.

The trigger control device is operated in the The operator depresses the 260, and the slides 218, 296, moves the control slide I forward on the shaft l6. Movement of the slide in rotates the sleeves 26, 28 through the links I8, 20, this rotary movement being transand the links [8, 20, effecting firing of the inner guns, as described, the plunger 34 moves in the housing 38, effecting a lost motion, until its forward end engages the front end of the housing. Thereafter, upon continued depression of the pedal 226, the shaft 30 will be rotated by the slide 10 and the lever 46, the springs 60 now yielding as the links I8, 20 continue to move with the slide [0. The rotary movement of the shaft 30 is transmitted to the levers 10 and through the connecting parts to the trigger bell cranks of the outer guns, firing these guns. It is obvious, therefore, that the operator by depressing the pedal 226 may fire a selected number of guns. As illustrated, he may first fire the two inner guns and then by continued depression of the pedal 226, fire both the inner and the outer guns. If he desires, he may defer the firing of the outer guns until the ammunition for the inner guns has been exhausted and then fire the outer guns by further depression of the pedal 226. When the pedal is released, the springs 242, 58, and 12 act to return the parts to their initial positions.

Having thus described my invention, what I claims as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a trigger control device for a plurality of guns each having a trigger for firing the gun, trigger operating means for the trigger of each gun, a movable firing means for actuating the trigger operating means, yieldable connections between a selected number of the trigger operating means and the firing means for actuating said trigger operating means upon the initial movement of the firing means, and a connection having a lost motion between another selected number of the trigger operating means and the firing means whereby the lost motion may be taken up during said initial movement of the firing means so that the last-named number of trigger operating means may be actuated upon further movement of the firing means.

2. In a trigger control device for a plurality of guns, trigger operating means for each gun, an operator-actuated pedal for actuating the trigger operating means and means between the pedal and the trigger operating means for causing said trigger operating means to be actuated in predetermined order, said means comprising a slide movable horizontally to actuate two series of connections one of which includes links, sleeves oscillated by the links, and yieldable transmitting arts for operating a selected number of triggers and the other of which includes a plunger housing and a plunger having a lost motion in the housing, a lever pivoted to the housing, a shaft oscillated by the lever, and transmitting means between the shaft and another selected number of triggers.

CHARLES J. GROSS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED; STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,236,335 Dugied Mar. 25, 1941 2,444,246 Chase June 29, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 863,885 France Jan. 6, 1941 867,031 France June 30, 1941 

